The novel is relayed in the first person through Miranda’s diaries; she is the protagonist of the story, the central spoke around which all the other characters turn. Daughter to Laura and Hal, sister to Matt and Jon (and de facto sister to Julie), and love interest to Alex, Miranda has a unique relationship with all the characters. Her diaries are straightforward and revealing. In this private forum, she does not elide her own feelings of disappointment, selfishness, and anger. Her diaries also track the slow progress of her coming of age: She begins to shed the irresponsibility of childhood to shoulder the greater burdens and harder decisions of adulthood.

In the beginning, Mom frequently points out Miranda’s still immature behavior, and she accords more freedom to Matt and even to Jon, her younger brother. Miranda is convinced that Mom and Matt are trying to direct her life: “I don’t know when Mom and Matt have the time to whisper conspiratorially about my future, but I guess they still do” (15). Later, when she learns that Dad asked Mom if he could take Miranda with him and Lisa on their travels west, Miranda resents that Mom did not even ask her opinion.